C’mon C’mon couldn’t be more different than Joaquin Phoenix’s last movie, Joker. For one thing, there’s no scene where he dances to “Rock and Roll Part 2” or shoots Robert De Niro in the head… probably. Also, C’mon C’mon isn’t a superhero blockbuster; it’s a black-and-white indie drama about a normal guy from writer and director Mike Mills, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of 20th Century Women and Beginners.
C’mon C’mon follows Johnny (Phoenix) and his young nephew (Woody Norman), who “forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they are unexpectedly thrown together in this delicate and deeply moving story about the connections between adults and children, the past and the future,” according to A24’s official plot summary.
Mills told the Los Angeles Times that Phoenix didn’t want to follow up Joker with another dark and gritty role. ”That was a super conscious [choice],” Mills says. “Joaquin is smart. He knew what a 180 this would be, and that was on my side.” He also described their working relationship. “It was so collaborative and fun,” Mills said. “Joaquin just made it less predictable and less me trying to make sure I come off good. He’s really good at smelling that kind of virtue signaling in different ways.”
C’mon C’mon opens in select theaters on November 19.
Ever since the tragedy that took place at the Astroworld festival last weekend, Travis Scott has shared a couple of statements about what happened. In both of them, he understandably seemed to be in a down place emotionally. Now, Kim Kardashian, who is of course related to Kylie Jenner and therefore probably knows Scott better than most, has noted that Scott is indeed feeling some significant sadness right now.
In a pair of tweets, Kardashian wrote, “Absolutely heartbroken for the lives who were lost and anyone who was hurt at Astroworld. Just like all of you, our family is in shock by the tragedy. We are keeping all of the victims, families and loved ones impacted in our prayers for healing — as well as Travis who we know cares so much about his fans and is truly devastated.”
Absolutely heartbroken for the lives who were lost and anyone who was hurt at Astroworld. Just like all of you, our family is in shock by the tragedy.
We are keeping all of the victims, families and loved ones impacted in our prayers for healing – as well as Travis who we know cares so much about his fans and is truly devastated.
Meanwhile, Jenner gave a statement of her own, saying, “I want to make it clear we weren’t aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show and in no world would have continued filming or performing. I am sending my deepest condolences to all the families during this difficult time and will be praying for the healing of everyone who has been impacted.”
Tucker Carlson returned to the Fox News airwaves after his leaked rant and surprise surgery last week, and things appeared to be (warped) business as usual. The host attempted to mock Pete Buttigieg, and he welcomed QAnon cheerleader Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has suddenly decided that she will fight for “real prison reform.” She took up this task after visiting Jan. 6 rioters in jail and subsequently claiming to find common ground between the GOP and Islam, and if all of that wasn’t nutty enough, consider that Tucker’s Patriot Purge “docuseries” claims that the insurrection was somehow a “false flag” that was staged by the U.S. government.
The false-flag claim runs counter to those “patriots” actions in attacking the U.S. Capitol, but common sense is not Tucker’s favorite thing to highlight. Rather, he decided to invite Greene on the show, and she alleged that it’s “patriot hunting season” on behalf of the U.S. government.
Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE speaking to Tucker after visiting filthy Washington DC jail, where JAN 6 political prisoners are still being detained. pic.twitter.com/oOFLdbCvnT
She ranted about how unfair it is that BLM protestors aren’t sitting in jail while the insurrectionists languish while awaiting trial. She detailed how upset she is after visiting the D.C. jail (where, she admits, “some of them did get involved in a riot”). She’s also upset that unvaccinated “patriots” aren’t allowed to mingle with other prisoners and go to chapel. “Even in jail, unvaccinated people are treated like 2nd-class citizens.”
Mediaite reveals that the pair also bashed Liz Cheney, who has pushed back at Tucker (without mentioning Tucker) over his false-flag nonsense:
Rep. Liz Cheney was another character that kept featuring in the interview, but not in person. She was openly derided by both Carlson and Taylor Greene, as she is sitting on the House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6th and has called out the “false flag” allegations presented in Tucker Carlsons Original series Patriot Purge, the trailer of which was received with great controversy due to its conspiratorial presentation.
Carlson played a clip of Cheney saying “And to call it a false flag operation, to spread those kinds of lies, is very dangerous,” then followed with “so the weapons of mass destruction lady is accusing other people of lying, got it.” He then cynically mimicked what he thought to be Cheney’s position, saying “We’ve got to get to the bottom of it, but how dare you ask questions about it because that’s un-American.”
With Marjorie Taylor Greene admitting that these “patriots” did in fact “riot,” it’s hard to comprehend how Tucker is trying to pull off the false-flag absurdity, too. That’s a lot of mental gymnastics.
Over the weekend, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) shared a violent and utterly bizarre video on social media that depicts himself killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). “Any anime fans out there?” he tweeted, along with an altered version of the opening to popular Japanese series Attack on Titan, which was re-named to Attack on Immigrants.
Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, naturally, make cameos.
As the clip continues, controversial representative Gosar can be seen darting across a European-style city alongside House lawmakers Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Gosar — in the place of main character Eren Yaeger — circles around a giant with Ocasio-Cortez’s face photoshopped on before the anime character launches into the air and comes down, slicing the back of the giant’s neck, killing it.
Ocasio-Cortez, who feared she was going to be actually killed on January 6th, replied to the tweet on Monday. “So while I was en route to Glasgow, a creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me And he’ll face no consequences bc @GOPLeader cheers him on with excuses. Fun Monday! Well, back to work bc institutions don’t protect woc,” she tweeted.
AOC called Gosar (who voted to overturn the 2020 election) a “collection of wet toothpicks” and added that “white supremacy is for extremely fragile people &sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself.” She also listed the times when she’s been harassed by members of the GOP at work.
“Remember when Yoho accosted me on the the Capitol and called me a f—ing b—. Remember when Greene ran after me a few months ago screaming and reaching. Remember when she stalked my office the 1st time w/ insurrectionists & ppl locked inside. All at my job & nothing ever happens,” she wrote.
The video is still active on Gosar’s account, although with a warning from Twitter: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about hateful conduct. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
So while I was en route to Glasgow, a creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me
And he’ll face no consequences bc @GOPLeader cheers him on with excuses.
This dude is a just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway.
White supremacy is for extremely fragile people &sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself
The music world has now had a few days to react and grieve to the Astroworld festival tragedy that took place last weekend, which ended up with eight deaths and many more injuries. Travis Scott has made multiple statements about the situation, and now, Drake, who joined Scott during the performance when the fatal crowd crush happened, has shared his first words about what happened.
On Instagram, Drake wrote, “I’ve spent the past few days trying to wrap my mind around this devastating tragedy. I hate resorting to this platform to express an emotion as delicate as grief but this is where I find myself. My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering. I will continue to pray for all of them, and will be of service in any way I can. May God be with you all.”
Scott currently faces multiple lawsuits over the festival and Drake is named as a co-defendant in at least one of them. A statement accompanying the lawsuit in which Drake is named reads, ““There is no excuse for the events that unfolded at NRG stadium on Friday night. There is every indication that the performers, organizers, and venue were not only aware of the hectic crowd but also that injuries and potential deaths may have occurred. Still, they decided to put profits over their attendees and allowed the deadly show to go on.”
The Golden State Warriors are the NBA’s best team through the first three weeks of the season, entering Tuesday night atop the West with an 8-1 record. Despite the continued absence of Klay Thompson and James Wiseman, the Warriors have been on a tear to start the season, led as always by Stephen Curry.
With the reeling Atlanta Hawks coming into town, Golden State had a chance to get their ninth win in 10 games to open the year, but things got off to an inauspicious start, as, after scoring the teams first 10 points, Curry appeared to hurt his shoulder in the first quarter and had a heating pad on it as the Hawks opened up a 15-point lead in the early going.
However, Steph would eventually return to the floor and serve as the catalyst for what was at one point an extended 58-26 run by the Warriors to turn that around and take full command of the game. Curry was doing, well, Steph things, as once he got a few to fall it seemed as though he simply couldn’t miss, no matter how much attention the Hawks gave him on defense.
While the game was well in hand, Curry’s early absence meant he was still light enough on minutes to chase the 50-point benchmark well into the fourth quarter and got there with just over four minutes to play, to the delight of the home crowd.
Curry was pulled immediately after that, finishing with 50 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds — the third Warrior ever with a 50-point, 10-assist game — in 35 minutes of action on 14-of-28 shooting, including 9-of-19 from three-point range in what became a 127-113 win. It was a sensational performance and an early signature scoring night for a player who, at the moment, has to be considered the MVP frontrunner 10 games into the season.
On Monday, conservatives piled upon Secretary of Transportation (and former presidential candidate) Pete Buttigieg for saying something that sounded, on its face, completely strange: He claimed that some roads in America were racist. His comments were, naturally, taken out of context, and he admittedly wasn’t speaking as clearly as he should have been. But the thing is: Buttigieg was completely right. He was referring to certain parkways in the New York City metro area that, when they were designed in the first half of the 20th century, were made to block transportation to low-income and non-white people. But that didn’t stop conspiracy theorist and dangerous zealot Tucker Carlson, from trying to own him with some ahistorical jabs.
Transportation @SecretaryPete: ” If an underpass was constructed such that a bus carrying mostly Black and Puerto Rican kids to a beach, […] in New York was designed too low for it to pass by, that that obviously reflects racism that went into those design choices.” pic.twitter.com/0XWkDZehYM
Buttigieg’s comments came during a press conference, where Grio reporter April Ryan asked him how he and his team planned to “deconstruct the racism that was built into the roadways.”
Ryan didn’t specify what she was talking about, but Buttigieg picked up on it right away:
“I’m still surprised that some people were surprised when I pointed to the fact that if a highway was built for the purpose of dividing a white and a Black neighborhood, or if an underpass was constructed such that a bus carrying mostly Black and Puerto Rican kids to a beach—or it would have been—in New York, was designed too low for it to pass by, that that obviously reflects racism that went into those design choices … I don’t think we have anything to lose by confronting that simple reality.”
Buttigieg didn’t go into specifics, either, but while the GOP was making hay over his purportedly bizarre comments, others in the know caught on, too. He was referring to something made famous in The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, journalist Robert Caro’s seminal biography about the “master builder” of New York City. Published to great acclaim (and a Pulitzer) in 1974, the epic tome paints the notorious public servant (who was really an unelected despot-of-sorts) as an idealist who soured into a petty, bigoted monster who doomed his city, particularly its low income residents, to a special kind of hell.
Moses did do a lot for New York City. As park commissioner (one of 12 positions he held over his decades-long tenure), he built numerous beautiful parks, as well as beaches that stretch across the south of Long Island. He just didn’t want the poor or non-white to go to them. Had he simply made fares and tolls high, that wouldn’t have been enough. Fares and tolls could be lowered later, and the people Moses hated could one day travel freely to his precious property. So he came up with something closer to permanent: He built roads with bridges too low to carry buses, which would have been used by the city’s cash-strapped, including much of the city’s Black population.
So Buttigieg was right — he just didn’t speak as clearly as he could have, explaining to those not in the know that he was referring to one of countless harrowing details in a famous doorstop.
But sure enough, Tucker spent part of his show mocking Buttigieg for saying something that was historically accurate.
Inanimate objects, like roads, can’t be racist. That seems obvious, though apparently Pete Buttigieg doesn’t know this. pic.twitter.com/XabGgEa8jx
After referring to people who know history and may have even read a book that runs over 1200 pages “the dumbest people in the world,” he insisted that “roads can’t be racist,” because they’re “inanimate objects.” (Like nooses.) And he played dumb for his audience, knowing they’d like it.
“Here we have news, according to the Department of Transportation secretary, overpasses in New York were designed to keep buses of Black and Puerto Rican kids from getting to the beach,” Carlson told his audience. “And here’s the amazing part, those very same overpasses somehow allowed buses full of white kids to get through. How does that work?!”
It works in that it also targeted low-income white people, but Carlson was on a roll, saying that “thank heaven he’s got a trillion dollars to get to the bottom of the racist road problem.” He then let out his signature high-pitched laugh.
Then again, what do you expect from someone who slams Critical Race Theory even though he admits he doesn’t understand it? For everyone else, you can always crack open a book.
The Denver Nuggets have tread water to start the season, but looked to be in line for a comfortable, easy win over one of the league’s best teams so far on Monday night. Up 17 at home against the Miami Heat, the Nuggets controlled the game throughout, but things took a dramatic turn late in the fourth quarter.
Markieff Morris gave Nikola Jokic a hard take foul at midcourt (that was assessed a Flagrant 2) that upset the reigning MVP, who snapped and charged Morris from behind as he was walking away, hitting Morris in the back/neck with a vicious shoulder that sent Morris to the ground and earned Jokic an ejection.
Nikola Jokic clobbers Markieff Morris from behind late in the fourth quarter and things get intense. pic.twitter.com/9RclknqIKB
Morris had to be attended to by the Heat’s medical staff and the stretcher was brought out initially, but thankfully Morris was able to walk off on his own power after being down for some time. Unsurprisingly, the Heat were infuriated by Jokic’s cheap shot, with Jimmy Butler wanting to fight the Serbian big man.
It is as bad of an act as you will see on an NBA floor and it’s not the first time Jokic has crossed the line after getting upset. He got ejected from Game 4 of the Nuggets second round loss to the Suns after hammering Cameron Payne in the face, and he’s been known to take aggressive fouls when he’s upset with not getting a call himself. This one seemed to be frustration with Morris fouling him hard when the game was decided, but there’s no excuse for charging someone from behind like this and a lengthy suspension seems all but assured for the MVP, which will be disastrous for the Nuggets.
UPDATE: After the game, no Heat players spoke with the media, but Erik Spoelstra gave a brief update on Morris and expressing that he was understandably upset by Jokic’s hit on Morris.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says that Markieff Morris is moving around in the locker room but the team will do “necessary tests.”
He added that Morris fouled Jokic but said Jokic executed a “dangerous, dirty play… It’s absolutely uncalled for.”
Being an official in any sport is an incredibly difficult and thankless job, but there are times where officiating crews insert themselves into a game to an unnecessary degree.
Some of this isn’t the fault of the officials, per se, but the leagues creating new points of emphasis or rules. There is no greater example of that than the NFL’s new taunting rules this season, which have led to some disastrous calls as officials have been asked to try and adjudicate emotion out of the game to a painful degree. On Monday night, the Bears found themselves on the wrong end of one of the worst taunting flags of the season, when Cassius Marsh helped Chicago get a big third down stop down three late in the fourth quarter to force a punt.
That was until he got flagged for taunting for…well, it was hard to figure out what exactly he did wrong. Marsh did a spinning kick celebration immediately after that didn’t draw anything and then he walked towards the Steelers bench, but never got particularly close, staring down the Pittsburgh sideline after his big play and then trotted back to the Chicago bench.
That earned him a flag, and many noticed that referee Tony Corrente even seemed to go full James Harden and lean into Marsh to draw contact as he came off the field.
Referee Tony Corrente literally leans in to bump Tony Marsh so that he can call the penalty on him. pic.twitter.com/NpDYICPUdH
It was all very strange and helped lead to a Steelers field goal to go up six. The oddest part is, it might’ve helped the Bears out in a way, as it forced them to play for a touchdown and be aggressive rather than trying to ensure they at least forced overtime with a field goal. The result was Justin Fields throwing a pair of dimes to get Chicago a touchdown and a one-point lead on their ensuing drive.
Every year, Diageo releases a set of single malt whiskies that invariably become the most sought-after scotch expressions of the year. 2021 was no different. Well… that’s not entirely true. Diageo did, indeed, drop eight brand new single malts but they also added a new wrinkle by leaning into storytelling.
Each of this year’s Special Releases is branded with a story that plays into the overall theme of “Legends Untold.” Each bottle has its own title and QR code that will take you to an interactive visual story that plays into the theme of the whisky in the bottle and fables from Scotland. It’s an extra layer of cool added to some already very unique whisky.
Fables aside, there are also eight pretty damn amazing bottles of single malt scotch at play in this year’s set. We’re going to rank each of those bottles based on taste alone (price and availability are not a factor here). It goes without saying that these special one-off whiskies from some of the most beloved distilleries in Scotland do not come cheap — the most expensive bottle is in the thousands. Still, this is the gift-giving and holiday imbibing season so click on those prices if you’re interested in trying one of these yourself.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of 2021
This Speyside malt — which is getting pushed pretty hard on the U.S. market right now — is all about the honeyed and heather notes of the region. This expression rested in former bourbon barrels for nearly two decades before it was transferred to a cognac cask. After that final maturation, the whisky was bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is one of the fruitiest out there, with strong notes of apricot next to dried figs, orange oils, old raisins, and candied fruits that lead towards a rummy fruitcake with a tube of marzipan running through it and a light flourish of fresh heather flowers. The palate really holds onto the fruit with the candied fruits and citrus rinds leading the way as apple cores and stems veer the taste towards a woodier note of cedar with a slight echo of white grape juice. The mid-palate holds onto the sweetness of that juice as the malts kick in with a slight tobacco spice that’s just touched with a hint of dried and candied ginger.
Bottom Line:
This was fruity. That’s not a bad thing at all. It’s delicious. It’s just that this didn’t quite speak to me as deeply as the rest of the expressions on this list. Also, something has to be last in these rankings. So here we are.
This Islay whisky is iconic already and this year’s younger of two special releases from the distiller helps cement that further. The whisky is built from juice aged in re-fill bourbon casks — meaning that the casks had already aged bourbon and then aged single malts at least once before this whisky was filled into them and left for 12 years. That whisky was then vatted and bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a matrix of the sea and land as notes of air-dried sea salt mingle with nori wetted with sushi rice, and a clear sense of green tea with a hint of dried florals that then leads towards dry cacao powder, salted lemon peels, and a very distant line of sea-spray laced campfire smoke with wet sand lurking underneath. The palate takes that sea salt, nori, and lemon and tosses them together for a sharp yet dry and briny mouthfeel that leads back to now-sweetened tea with a hint of waxy saltwater taffy. The mid-palate rushes towards a big billow of dry driftwood smoke that’s emboldened by a handful of smoked and dried ancho chilis.
Bottom Line:
There’s a lot going on here. While The Singleton above was a little fruity, this feels a little all over the place. It ends up making sense but it’s a baffling road to get there. Delicious, mind you, but it may leave you shaking your head.
6. Royal Lochnagar Aged 16 Years, The Spring Stallion
This eastern Highland whisky is another cask strength drop from Diageo. The juice was aged in refill bourbon barrels and left alone for 16 long years. There was no finishing cask. The whisky was simply vatted and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Soft, soft, soft. That could be the notes on the nose, palate, and finish and we could move on. More deeply, the nose is full of mild notes of dates next to tart apples and orange peels that turn into an apple cobbler of sorts as this very mellow, almost damp, mossy earthiness peeks in. That tart apple and orange zest drive the palate towards a soft malted cookie frosted with light powdered sugar and vanilla frosting. The end warms up with a slight pepper tobacco vibe next to a distant idea of a dry woodpile next to that tart fruit.
Bottom Line:
This is very interesting and very even-keeled. I really like this. It’s mostly ranked a little lower because I’m not overly familiar with Royal Lochnagar, having only sampled a couple of the expressions over the years. So I’m not 100 percent sure if this is an outlier or perfect example of the distillery. Either way, this is really tasty and easy-going.
This year’s Mortlach leans into the “beast of Dufftown” moniker the brand has earned by being bold and unique. The whisky in the bottle is a spirit that spent 13 years aging in both refill bourbon casks and new oak. Those barrels were vatted to create this beast of a whisky and it was bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
This starts off very unexpectedly with a nose full of Thanksgiving dinner — the roasted turkey with sage, thyme, and rosemary leads towards a bowl of cranberry sauce cut with holiday spices and a touch of sweetness next to the bold tartness of the berries while candied fruits, floral honey, and varnished cedar round out the nose. The palate builds on that vibe and adds in a vanilla-chili note that attaches to a dry cedar box full of fruity and sticky tobacco. That spice really leans into freshly cracked black pepper as the fruitier notes from the nose return to mellow everything out on the long finish.
Bottom Line:
This feels so right now. Big notes of roasted fowl, autumnal herbs, and wintry fruits with a warming woody tobacco vibe feel like you should be snuggled next to a crackling fire and sipping this exact whisky after a big holiday meal.
This year’s Talisker sticks with the classic age statement of 8-years while leaning into the smokier side of the Island whisky. The build on this expression is a marrying of the “Smokiest Reserves” from the Talisker warehouse. That juice is vatted and bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
You get this medley of smoked fruits on the nose — think smoked plum and apricot — that leads towards a rush of sea spray, iodine, and nori that braces your senses for this billow of wet forest and granite on fire like a mountain overlooking the ocean that’s been set ablaze. The palate calms down only slightly with a pink sea salt that’s been accented with dried roses while that smoke puffs through your sense with a green pepper spiciness and an almost sweet, wet fir tree bark with an earthy edge that almost feels like damp black dirt. That earthiness imparts a soft peatiness to the malt on the end with a slight tobacco chewiness followed by a final kick of spicy smoke.
Bottom Line:
Last year’s Talisker 8 was my favorite by far. This year’s release is so drastically different from last year’s that it was hard to know where to place it. I really like this but it just didn’t grab me quite as fully as the next three on this list.
That’s not to say this isn’t a thoroughly nuanced and delicious whisky. It is. It just wasn’t my jam this year.
3. Cardhu Aged 14 Years, The Scarlet Blossoms of Black Rock
This year’s Cardhu is a subtle malt that’s just touched with wine casks after spending a dozen years mellowing in refill bourbon barrels. Those wine casks are dumped into a vat and then this is, again, bottled at barrel strength.
Tasting Notes:
This feels like a layered fruit tart that starts with almost sour apples and grapes that’s topped with a layer of buttery pastry topped with red berries and pear that’s topped with another layer of buttery pastry that’s then topped with savory lychee that’s then topped with dried orange zest, dried lavender petals, and a drizzle of cinnamon-spiced honey. The palate adds a creamy dollop of vanilla-laced whipped cream with a few lines of buttery toffee and more of those florals. Then the taste veers into a tannic, vinous red wine vibe with a touch of wet cedar and a hint of black peppercorn. The finish arrives quickly as that pepper smooths out into a powdery white pepper and the apple and pear return to softly bring about the short end.
Bottom Line:
This was goddamn delicious. It has a wonderful balance of sweet, tart, creamy, and spicy that just works. What’s amazing is that while I really dig this, it still wasn’t quite as bold and interesting as the next two.
This is a very rare and unique whisky. First, it’s the first 26-year-old Lagavulin released. Next, there are only 7,500 of these bottles in existence. Lastly, the whisky was built from a combination of first-fill Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks. Those barrels were married after over two decades of mellowing and bottled at a very accessible cask strength of 44.2 percent.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this opens as if you’ve taken a freshly emptied red wine barrel, torn the staves from the metal, and thrown those wet staves onto a campfire and then sat down to eat some figs wrapped in nori and drizzled with rich butterscotch while someone else threw an old boat rope onto that fire and then started up an outboard motor on the dock just a few feet away.
From there, the taste mellows out considerably as a vibe of smoked dates flaked with sea salt takes over and this clear sense of the oil from a sardine can arrives with plenty of salt and black pepper to help it go down easy. The finish mellows even further as this wet and earthy note arrives that’s one part forest mushroom, one part wet green moss, and one part smoldering wet cedar branches with a slight peppery tobacco dryness and warmth on the very end.
Bottom Line:
Yes, the oldest and most expensive pour is one of the best. That should come as no surprise. What is surprising is the path this whisky takes you down. It’s constantly surprising your senses while giving you this feel of … comfort.
It’s wild yet refined. It tastes old but feels new. It’s birth, death, and rebirth all in one sip.
Oban’s location on the Scottish coast next to both the Islands and Highlands allows it to harness the best of both regions when making its whisky. This year’s 12-year release is built on the backs of both ex-bourbon casks and refill bourbon casks, allowing the stronger notes of those new bourbon casks to get a light mellowing from the refill wood. The results are bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Briny — that’s the draw here. The nose has this mellow mix of spicy nori crackers that lead towards an old wooden cutting board that’s slick with olive juice, fish oils, salt, and black pepper that you then take a heel of bread to mop up while a slight note of smoked haddock or cod lingers on the very backend. On the palate, a burst of citrus oils arrives to cut through all that umami, oil, and brine as a light malty fruitiness adds a little tart and sweet to the mix with a sense of cedar chips soaked in mild chili oil drives a warmth. The finish lets that spice build towards a dry pepperiness thanks to the wood as the fruit ties itself to a very mild tobacco leaf and another note of that smoked fish sneaks in on the very end.
Bottom Line:
This took me home. I was raised on the sea (in a little town called Port Townsend) and we fished nearly every day. We smoked a lot of the fish we caught and this brought back all those sense memories and just memories of that time. It damn near brought a tear to my eye. This wins hands down for the transportation sensory experience alone. I honestly cannot detach this from the hefty load of nostalgia it dug up to say truly if it’s the most delicious. All that I know is that it was the most delicious dram of this set for me.
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& nothing ever happens
8 threes for Steph
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